After removing mine and looking for too long in the forums for info, I thought I'd put what I learned here, all together, for the next Newbie.
Please add any tips you might have as well, I am no expert and there may be better ways to do some of this. Grammatical and spelling errors are intentional.
These photos and explanations are on a 1962 24ft Tradewind and likely would apply to most AS in that vintage.
Pic 1 - A drawing of the common attachments I found in most of my cabinets and closets. The red spot is where the hole is, the blue line is the screw. If you can't recognize the point of view of the drawing, well, you probably don't own a vintage airstream or someone else is doing the work
. Nevertheless, you're looking from outside the airstream in.
- Along the wall is an aluminum channel, riveted into the wall of the AS, and into this channel is what the side walls of my cabinets slid into. The walls are not glued or anything, what holds them in the channel is crimping of the aluminum at the top and bottom. Only the inside edge of the channel is crimped. I took a 3/4" chisel and hammered it (gently) between the wall and crimping to open it up. Once that's done, the wall is free.
- Screws which pass through the wood facing above the closet door into the roof. The holes are filled in with wood putty which must first be removed to even discover them. "Hey, now I see why I can get this out, these hidden #%@&! screws" Usually 2 per closet.
- Behind the wood facing is a hidden L-shaped aluminum bracket. It's screwed into the backside of the wood facing you just worked on and then into the ceiling. Usually 3 screws per closet.
- The side walls commonly have screws which are drilled into whatever adjoins the closet. So look for those screws in the wall from the inside and remove. Also keep in mind, the airstream is a "monolablabla something" design... meaning as you remove one screw, you destabilize 4 other structures in the trailer. So, check what's on the other side of the wall. (No disrespect is intended or implied to airstream designers or worshipers of the same)
- The wood frame of the dresser or closet itself is usually screwed to the wall of the AS.
- At the base of the closet, just inside the door, are strips of wood, nailed to the closet, but screwed into the floor. These screws generally are all rusty and a few choice words of profanity are acceptible here.
- The bottom of the aluminum channel crimping
Watch the pipes and electrical wires passing thru the closet as well. Virtually every closet or cabinet had something that had to be removed or disconnected. Take lots of before pics and during pics!!!!
Pic 2 - Viewpoint: Head stuck through door of closet, looking down to the right. You'll probably have to click on these pics to see the details. Examples of the lower crimping, and screws referred to in #4 and #6.
Pic 3 - Top of aluminum channel, outside of closet. Wood has already been freed.
Pic 4 - Same exact area, but seen from inside the closet.
Pic 5 - So, if you stepped into the closet, turned around to face the door and looked up, this is what you'd see. You'd also be a bona fide airstream freak with dangerously abnormal serum aluminum levels. Hole A refers to #3, that screws into the ceiling. Hole B, was filled with wood putty, but a screw is also way up there drilled into the ceiling or roof or whatever.
Well, I hope this helps the next guy/gal. Goodnight!
Craig
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